The IPL auction for the 2018 edition will take place on January 27 and 28 in Bengaluru.

Indian Premier League (IPL) has always been known for giving rather unknown names a chance to prove their abilities and make a big fortune. Examples such as Swapnil Asnodkar, Pravin Tambe and foreign players like Andrew Tye and David Wiese have gone to do more than that was expected off them.

Franchises are ready to give chances to unknown players so that they can learn from the best and performance at the biggest stage of them all and make a name for themselves and some of them have triggered a bidding war during the auction.

Here are 5 such first time entries in the IPL 2018 auction that may hit the jackpot:

EVIN LEWIS

Trinidadian Evin Lewis caught the eye of the world when he slammed a T20I century against India in the USA in 2016. His century took West Indies to 245/6 and helped his team win the match by 1 run. Lewis repeated the feat in Kingston, as Lewis slammed 125* in chase of 190 runs.

In his 84 T20 match career, Lewis has scored 2657 runs with 3 centuries and at a strike rate of 146.06. He recently also hit a brilliant 176* against England in an ODI. Lewis a great T20 opener and any franchise looking for a slam-bang opener, who gives quick starts will be bidding for him.

JOFRA ARCHER

Jofra Archer is from Barbados, but he is trying to make a cricket career in England. He currently plays for Sussex county and came into limelight for his exploits in the ongoing Big Bash League in Australia. A right-arm fast bowler, capable of hitting high 80 mph speeds and a dangerous lower order batsman; Archer played U19 cricket for West Indies.

But unfortunately, an injury curtailed his West Indies career and he moved on to play for Sussex and his 7-year qualification will end only in 2022-23. Recently, Archer showed interest in putting his name in the IPL auction and having such a young and exciting talent in IPL 2018 will only enhance the quality of the league.

DAVID WILLEY

England’s David Willey is one of the best-known names in this list, but he hasn’t played in IPL till now. But his record of 2053 runs and 139 wickets in 143 T20 matches for teams like Perth Scorchers, Northamptonshire and Yorkshire have evidence that Willey will attract all franchises when his name comes up in the auction.

With the change in England cricket board’s stance of not letting English players participate in a whole season of IPL; franchises are more confidence in bidding for them and Willey will definitely be on the list of must buy players.

D'ARCY SHORT

D'Arcy Short was a relatively unknown entity until he smashed the highest score in the Big Bash League (122*) a few days ago. Short had made his List-A debut in 2011 and his FC debut in 2016-17. Short had made his T20 debut for Hobart Hurricanes in the 2016–17 Big Bash League season on 23 December 2016, scoring a quick-fire 61 off 29 balls.

Now with everyone knowing the hitting capabilities of Short be sure of a bidding war for this left-handed batsman, who also bowls slow left-arm orthodox.

LUNGI NGIDI

Lungisani or Lungi Ngidi won the Man of the match award on his Test debut recently against India for picking a 6 wicket haul in the Indian second innings. IN 39 T20 matches so far, he has picked 43 wickets and has the best bowling figure of 4/14. He has already won the South Africa T20 Cup player of the year award in 2016. He has played 3 T20Is for South Africa and has won the Man of the match against Sri Lanka.

With Ngidi showing that he is capable of hitting the speeds of over 90 mph, franchises will want to have him in their teams in order to unleash his pace against the opposition batsmen.